The Congress on Tuesday snatched victory from the jaws of certain decimation in Andhra Pradesh. The highest decision making body of the party, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), gave its stamp of approval for the creation of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, a state that sends 42 MPs to the Lok Sabha.

The crafty move, though belated, will help the Congress checkmate the breakaway YSR Congress led by Jaganmohan Reddy, currently in jail in a disproportionate assets case, squeeze the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) into merging with the Congress ahead of the 2014 polls, and weaken the BJP in Telangana, the only region where the saffron party is strong in undivided Andhra.

Congress virtually rules out carving out more states

Amid demands for creation of several smaller states in the backdrop of decision on separate Telangana, Congress on Tuesday virtually ruled out such possibilities.

"States are not formed just on the basis of agitations.

There has to be a study of historical background," AICC General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh said when asked about demands for separate states from various parts of the country, including that of Gorkhaland, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Harit Pradesh.

He dismissed suggestions that the decision on Telangana has been taken out of political expediency or compulsion and it was a long standing demand of the people who had also complained of several violations of the 'gentleman's agreement'. Besides, the region had witnessed a large number of suicides over the issue.

Singh insisted that the issue of Telangana cannot be compared to others because there has been historical background as it has reference in the recommendations of the first State Reorganisation Commission (SRC), which is still relevant.

He said that there was also a reference to Vidarbha in the first SRC report.

On the question of Article 371 (D) of Constitution which grants special status, he said the Cabinet will look into its relevance once Telangana is formed.

At the same time, he said in reply to a question that the resolution of CWC in 2001 for formation of second SRC still stands.

AICC general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh, however, denied that electoral calculation were behind the decision.

"Political expediency cannot be a reason for such a path-breaking decision; this has nothing to do with the elections," Singh, who has been proactive in taking an early decision on splitting the state, said after the CWC meet.

Ahead of the CWC meet, the UPA coordination committee meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Gandhi, Cabinet ministers P. Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Sushilkumar Shinde, Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh and Chief Minister Kiran Reddy unanimously endorsed the decision to divide the state ending years of ambiguity over the issue.

Telangana supporters celebrate in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Before announcing the contentious decision, a proactive Gandhi managed to douse the fires of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. She met delegations of pro- and anti-Telangana groups and urged them to serve the overall interest of the party.

Sources said Gandhi managed to mollify Kiran Reddy, who was even contemplating resignation. She also pacified a delegation of Union ministers from Seemandhra who are extremely upset with the directive to not make any provocative statements.

Meetings

After meeting Gandhi, Union ministers Pallam Raju and J.D. Seelam said they "will all abide by the decision of the high command".

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chief Sonia Gandhi with other leaders during the CWC meeting on Telangana

Pallam Raju said: "We have expressed our concern. We have requested the party high command to take a responsible decision. ...Our job is to convey our apprehension. We have conveyed our feeling of an injustice being done to some parts of the region."

While a political decision has been taken, the whole process will take six to seven months to come to fruition. Hyderabad, which is part of the Telangana region, will remain a joint capital for 10 years. Other vital issues such as sharing of river waters, revenue and power are to be addressed over the coming months.

The Congress had bagged 33 out of 42 seats in Andhra Pradesh in the 2009 general elections.

Almost all pollsters have predicted that the Congress will end with a single digit in 2014 with the YSR Congress and TDP doing well in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema and TRS in Telangana.

The Telangana decision is expected to generate a good deal of goodwill for the Congress in the region. The party had secured 12 out of the 17 LS seats from Telangana. In the wake of an intensified agitation for a separate state over the last few years, the Congress had become hugely unpopular due to its dithering. It has lost almost all recent byelections.

The Congress has now managed to send out a positive message to the voters in the volatile region. The result, the Congress did well in the three-phase panchayat poll which ended on Tuesday. The TRS was relegated to third position with TDP emerging second.

The Congress is already in talks with the TRS for a merger. TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao has agreed on two conditions: first, an official declaration on creation of the new state, and second, a say in the distribution of tickets in 80 out of 119 constituencies in the new state.

Sources said if the TRS does not come on board, the Congress will try to split it before the next polls. Some TRS legislators were planning to cross over to the Congress in 2009 but the sudden death of chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy scuttled the move.

AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, who played a proactive role in expediting the decision to split the state on Tuesday confirmed the possibility of Congress-TRS merger.

"The TRS chief is on record about it... having said that they would merge with the Congress party after the formation of the state is declared. Now that it has been done... we have to wait and see about their (TRS leaders') reaction on this (merger issue)," he said.

Celebrations and protests mark new state decision

A festive spirit pervaded the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan premises in New Delhi as the Congress Working Committee formally endorsed the creation of Telangana. At the same time, supporters of united Andhra Pradesh stepped up protests in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions against any division of the state. A huge contingent of ministers, MPs and MLAs from the Telangana region, led by Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Damodara Raja Narasimha, arrived at the AP Bhawan to celebrate the muchawaited announcement on the new state.

Even as Jai Telangana slogans rent the air, ladoos were distributed and a sense of happiness and triumph was writ large on the faces of supporters of Telangana.

Mixed reaction from non-Cong parties to TelanganaOther parties gave mixed reactions with BJP claiming it would have formed the state during NDA rule but for opposition from a key ally while the Left cautioned that this may spur more such demands.

- Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao, spearheading the agitation for the separate state since long, welcomed the Congress Working Committee decision to form a separate Telangana state.

- Senior BJP leader L K Advani said "as far as we are concerned, our party is concerned, if Telangana was not formed when we had formed three new states it was only because of our respecting one of our coalition partners. Otherwise we would have done it even then".

- CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat said statehood for Telangana will spur such demands in other parts of the country. "The central government will have to take the responsibility to see that there is no further division of states whether it is West Bengal or anywhere else," he said.

- D Raja (CPI), termed the decision as "too late" and said his party had agreed to a separate Telangana "after indepth discussion and considering and exhausting all options". "All regions of Andhra Pradesh should take this decision in a brotherly manner without any hostility or bitterness," he said.

- Shiv Sena reacted sharply to the decision. "We regret the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh. We are for a united Maharashtra (an apparent reference to demand for Vidarbha state) and there is no question of any decision," Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said.

- LJP leader Ramvilas Paswan expressed the hope that the government will also create states like Bundelkhand, Vidarbha and Purvanchal. "LJP is in favour of smaller states," he said. Several students' bodies and other pro-united Andhra Pradesh outfits called a bandh in towns like Kadapa, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati.

Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh would meet today to discuss their future course of action in the wake of UPA favouring the formation of separate Telangana. "Yes, Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema (are meeting)," state Minor Irrigation Minister T G Venkatesh said, before Congress announced its decision in Delhi.

Responding to a query, he said all issues, including that of whether the leaders from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra would quit from the assembly on Telangana issue, would be discussed on Wednesday.

A report from Kadapa said Congress MLA from Jammalamadugu C Adinarayana Reddy said he would resign from the House as well as party.

The united Andhra JAC's convener in Kadapa district S Ramachandra Reddy has begun an indefinite fast against the decision. AP Congress spokesman and chairman of the 20-point programme N Tulasi Reddy has also quit his post in Kadapa, while main opposition TDP's chief whip D Narendra said the decision was taken with only for "votes and seats" as the criteria.

Senior TDP leader Y Ramakrishnudu said the process of division of assets should be proper and that his party would stand by the people of the three regions. Congress MLA J C Diwakar Reddy, who hails from Rayalaseema, said he felt pained over the issue.

Speaking to reporters, Narasimha said it was a historic day in the annals of the Telangana struggle. "It is a struggle of six decades in which hundreds of youth have sacrificed their lives for the sake of Telangana," he said. Calling it a struggle for selfidentity, self-respect, and self-rule, Narasimha said the people of Telangana thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the CWC for passing the resolution.

Students, employees and other supporters of united Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, staged protests and rallies against the decision.

A Joint Action Committee (JAC) of students held a march in the port town of Visakhapatnam and demanded that legislators from the non-Telangana regions resign from their posts to mount pressure on the Centre.

The major problems that will now arise

1: Formation of new capital for Andhra

Hyderabad has been the bone of contention. It has always been the centre of Telangana.

But the city is the financial and IT hub and Andhra is not willing to let go. The Centre announced that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and Seemandhra for 10 years.

The location of Seemandhra's new capital is a major area of concern. North-coastal Andhra leaders prefer Visakhapatnam but the city is at the extreme north-eastern corner and is far away from Rayalaseema and south-coastal Andhra districts.

2: Clash over other areas

There are certaindemands from Andhra and Rayalaseema peopleover certain parts of Telangana such as Bhadrachalam in Khammam district and Kodad in Nalgonda district. The government will have to appoint a boundary commission to deal with such demands.

3: River water sharing

The two major rivers Godavari and Krishna enter Telangana and flow towards Andhra in the eastern region. Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders are apprehensive over water wars between the two states in future.

4: Revenue-sharing

Telangana accounts for 62 per cent of state's revenue, of which 47 per cent comes only from Hyderabad, as majority of Andhra people pay taxes there. Seemandhra would be deprived of this.

5: Distribution of state govt employees

60-70 per cent of them are in Hyderabad and Rangareddy. With division, employees from Andhra and Rayalaseema will have to be repatriated, which they might not accept.